This vet rocked BaseFEST in front of thousands of his Marine brothers

On September 22nd, thousands of fans poured into Lance Corporal Torrey Gray Field at Twentynine Palms, California for the final stop on USAA's months-long BaseFEST tour. The all-day festivals brought together the military community at the country's largest bases and offered free food, fun, and some great, live music — featuring larger-than-life bands, like The Offspring.

But veterans got in on the entertaining, too. Marines, troops, and their families were warmed up by Twentynine Palms' own Matt Monaco, better known by his stage name, Modest Monaco.

Monaco comes from a Marine family. His grandfather served for over 33 years in the Marine Corps and fought in three separate wars.

"Honor, courage, and commitment. That is who he was. Seeing that in him inspired me to want to be like him," says Monaco.

And, in 1997, he did just that. "I've only seen my grandpa cry twice in his life. Once was at his 50th wedding anniversary and once was at my graduation for the Marines."

As a Marine, he spent his days serving our country — his nights, however, were reserved for working on drift cars at his own shop. This side gig opened the door for him to become a DJ. Once he put it out there that he wanted to learn to produce electronic music, DJs would bring their cars to him and he'd pick their brains. Two years and a complete album later, he's on stage at BaseFEST.

Not a bad side-hustle if I do say so myself.

(USAA)

Modest Monaco is no stranger to Twentynine Palms. It was, after all, where he trained. But instead of embracing the suck, as Marines tend to do, he instead kicked ass on stage.

The night also featured Nombe, Carlton Zeus, Haha Tonka, and The Offspring. Sadly, the Southern California festival concluded this year's BaseFEST tour. But if you missed it this year, don't sweat it — BaseFEST was a resounding success, so fans can probably expect bigger and better things to come next summer!

To hear former Marine Corps Sergeant Matt Monaco, aka Modest Monaco, share his experiences in his own words, check out the video below.